it appears that in one poll, in the pew poll, mitt romney is up against the president and in the gallup seven-day tracking poll, the president is up 50 to 45, if i have mitt romney's number right in that poll. this race has been, is, and will continue to be until election day a very close race. and so either side can take heart in a poll that shows his or her candidate being on top but, remember, this race is basically tied. >> now, the vice presidential debate, the one and only one, will be be this thursday night and paul ryan, the republican vice presidential nominee, was questioning his weekend on what he was doing to prepare for the debate. here's his response. >> how you feeling about the debate? >> what debate? oh, yeah. i better get ready for that. >> you know, i better get started. you just reminded me. no, it's going well. >> what are you looking for in that debate, marge, on thursday night? >> well, first of all, paul ryan should focus on explaining the math. that's something he dismissed when asked about it on fox news about a week or two ago. >> right. >> so he should now fi